The More
by Zeeweeble
Summary: She soon found herself lowering her weapon, her eyes softening, and a small smile shown across her face. "What has happened to me?" He stressed holding up his hands looking at them in horror. "My name is Sarah," the brunette finally spoke, turning to the man, Hamato, as she introduced herself, picking up the turtle toddler in the process, "I'm here to help." (Give it a Chance!)
1. Higher Ground

**Prologue: Higher Ground**

**1996**

A sharp gasp echoed off the walls when the girl awoke from her forced sleep. Her ankles were bond, as were her hands which also, unfortunately for her were tied with the same brown moldy rope that held her body in place on the table she lay on. Sweat and water rolled down her neck from the exhausting torture she had been forced to endure. She tugged hard at the ropes only to result in her slicing into her skin; blood slid down her wrists pooling at her sides. She bit the inside of her cheek forcing herself to endure the pain.

Blind to all that surrounded her, she had to rely on was her keen sense of smell and hearing. The air reeked of salt water and raw sewage. The salt water indicated either she was being held near the pier or she was losing her touch and it was just the water her hosts chose to torture her. It wasn't the first time she had been tortured and it was safe to assume it wouldn't be the last. In the past the frizzy haired brunette had endured whippings, cigarette burns, twisting of her thumbs, and much more. But this was her first Water-boarding; a horrendous act of tying the victim to a table, cover their face with a cloth then pour cold water on the cloth. Essentially it's a technique of near drowning without the struggle. Luckily she had lasted a grueling two hours of frigid water being poured over her face, filling her throat and sinus cavity, then coughing it all back out when she was permitted the luxury of air.

She inhaled deeply, coming up short of two lungful of air and started coughing violently. She swallowed hard, shaking her head hoping to rid herself of the burning that scraped up her nose and down her throat. She fought her strong gag reflex as the stench of sewage plagued her nostrils. So, water treatment plant near the pier; that was her best educated guess. She listened carefully to everything around her but unfortunately all she could hear was the light trickle of a leaky faucet.

The thing about being imprisoned, it leaves one plenty of time to think on ones actions that lead to their capture in the first place. Hers was not a particularly fantastic one nor would it be one to explain at the moment. Again she pulled at the bindings, feeling a little slack loosen against her bloody wrists. A twitch pulled at the corners of her mouth finally she was getting somewhere but that tiny smirk soon vanished when the sound of footsteps and muffled voices approached her position. As silently as she could make herself (which was very) she violently twisted her hands as far as she could, loosening the ropes. They were already worn, practically begging to be broken. A small breath of relief flew from her mouth when they finally snapped.

She pulled the cloth from her drenched face reveling a large bruise in next to her eye and left temple. She scanned the room for the first time. The footsteps grew closer so she wasted no time; next to where she lay was a cart displayed with several surgical instruments that she guessed had been brought in while she was unconscious. She grabbed a scalpel tightly in her hand, sawing away the rope that still held snug across her chest, then the one across her sore, flesh worn legs.

A soft powerful groan sliced through the air when she lifted her body off the cold metal table landing on her wobbly legs as she feel to the even colder wet concrete floor. She growled frustrated at her pathetic weak self knowing she needed to get up. The unfamiliar voices were even closer; she bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to regain her balance. There was no time to be weak; the voices were just on the other side of the wooden door before her. Her head snapped up when the door creaked open, too scared to think she was at the entrance facing three tall men, all in suits and ties.

The 5'4" girl was severely out heighten but she swung a clenched fist hard into the first's face, knocking him back into the other. Her last ruthless move was a full force stab-and-slash with the scalpel into the chest of the last man. A loud squeal scraped the air as a red blood seeped onto her hand, Yanking the scalpel out she wiped the awful liquid across the white tank top she had on.

Irritation began crawling up the girl's tan skin as she crept down a vaguely lit hall. She bit the inside of her cheek racking her brain on which path to take; obviously her first objective was to get her gear, she wasn't going anywhere without that. Second; get the hell out of there. A single tear ran down her cheek. She was going to fail, the one thing she wanted most; to get, and she was going to fail it. She shook her head and concentrated. As far as she could tell her current location was a warehouse. It looked as if it went on forever; usually warehouses consist of one huge storage area, maybe a hallway or two with a few offices. It angered the woman at how many twists and turns this particular house had; not only was it extensively hollowed out with rooms but each was jam packed with boxes and crates. What could possible be in them and why would someone need so many? She grimaced not taking the time to investigate and moved on. Taking a left when she came to a fork in her path then a right, her silver eyes lit up when an exit presented itself before her.

She bolted towards the door with a red exit sing hanging above. Just when she came within a few meters her way was blocked by four men stepping out of the office room next to the exit door she longed to pass through. One man was short, another was rather tall, the last, was standing between the others, he was large but not very tall. She recognized them immediately. They were the retched fools who had originally captured her. A burning fury rushed through her veins seeing those smug grins across their ugly mugs. They had stopped her from escaping, why not be a little cocky? Now they could hurt her even more for causing such trouble; either that or they were going to shoot her right then and there since each had what looked like a rifle but they were strangle looking. She had never seen a rifle like those and that was a rare thing.

"Surrender kid you got no chance." one spit saliva when he talked. That was so appalling she wanted to smash his head into the floor. She raised her hands in the air sighing deeply in defeat and stepped forward slowly; wouldn't want to startle the dimwits.

One step. Two step. Three step. Four. Five. Six. Now! She dove into the opened doored office on her left spinning on the balls of her feet and slammed the door shut barricading it with a desk along the wall, that would buy her a little time. The men started pounding hard attempting to break it down. A siren wailed through the air; she searched the not-so-safe-sanctuary and noticed a few familiar items sprawled out on the table across the room. She pulled on her ratty old combat boots, back finger-less gloves, and buckled her weapon belt around her waist, last she slipped on her dark green jacket successfully hiding her small arsenal.

Finally feeling like herself again she cracked her neck rolling the kinks out of her shoulders just as the door practically flew off the hinges along with a some sort of green smoke bomb but the dark haired beauty could still distinguish outlines of several men and they were armed as well. "The one that is trying to escape this place will not be leaving this place." There was a short too familiar click sound; she flipped a table over taking cover behind it as a string of buzzing and whirring raped her ears. Pulling away strands of hair off her sweat drenched face she noticed a high window.

"Right." She breathed. Pressing her back against the wooden table it felt hot she turned to see it was disintegrating, she wouldn't be able to keep use it as a shield for much longer. It was time for drastic measures, she snatched one of the little metal balls strapped to her belt, pulled the pin out, flipped up the clip- one; waiting two, three, four; she threw the dangerous object it in the direction of the fire. Took a dive behind the cabinet in the corner. The entire room shook lifting everything off the ground two inches in the air. A huff followed by a ring of coughs forced out the girls throat. Kicking the cabinet down revealed a cloud of dust and debris, a victorious smile appeared as she climbed up to the window, smashed the glass, and jumped out landing hard sending a tingling pain shooting up her ankles to her knees.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, the wind hitting her face instead of water. She scanned the area; she wasn't near the ocean after all. She was more in the downtown district. She walked down the slowly emptying street. The sun was just peeking over the skyscrapers, casting down dark shadows, which only made the breeze more intense. A frustrated huff blew past her lips, curling her arms tightly around her shivering torso. She pursed her lips, it was actually really annoying; she just escaped the clutches of an evil something-or-other organization, blew up an entire warehouse and still managed to collect some information that she needed, but no-one cared; more like no one knew. Drumming her fingers over the large manila envelope, she decided to take a quick peek.

There were news clipping, notes, but what caught this girl's attention most was an old photo. She stopped dead in her tracks and just stared blankly at the glossy picture of three kids. Her mind was knocked back to the present by a man in a robe looking garment. She shuffled to gather the strewn papers as she apologized, thinking the clash to have been her fault. He shook his head, telling her the fault was all his. Upon coming face-to-face with the man, he gave her a warm smile, handing her some papers. She took them, taking notice of the bowl he held under his arm. Sweeping a bow to him and to her, they parted ways without another word.

She walked only another block or two before she was recognized by a man that she was pretty sure was one that had captured her. He started chasing her back the way she came, but lost her after turning a corner. She stared down at the man in the suit. He seemed to have completely forgotten all about her, accept he kept walking; as well as being a creep that captured her, there also seemed to be something else about him that bothered her, so she decided to follow him.

She followed him all the way to an alley several blocks from where she had that run-in. She looked down into the darkness; from the rooftops, she had a good view. A fight was taking place below between four suits and…she squinted hard, the man she ran into earlier. Before she could jump in to help, he had taken care of all four men whom had run off, but something was not right. It all happened so fast it was more of a blur; a shatter of glass followed by a loud, painful scream scratched her ears. She flew down the fire escape in time to see the man in the funny robes and his four pet reptiles covered in strange, glowing goo. The man was changing drastically into, to her eyes, looked like a giant rat and the turtles grew standing on two feet, reminding her of tiny turtle toddlers. Keeping a safe distance from the ooze, she made her way to the now completely mutated rat man.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, approaching the man cautiously. He didn't answer. "What is your name?" She walked around to face him, he seemed harmless but she kept her gun in mind. The giant rat-man snapped his head up and in less than a second a gun was pointed right at the man's furry face. Her breathing was heavy, and she was scared. He held up his claws in a gentle surrender.

"M-My name is Hamato Yoshi." His voice was calm. She felt a tug on her pant leg; looking down she saw one of those baby turtles at her side staring back up at her with innocent eyes. She soon found herself lowering her weapon, her own eyes softening, and a small smile shown across her face as well. "What has happened to me?" He stressed holding up his hands.

"My name is Sarah," the brunette finally spoke, turning to the man, Hamato, as she introduced herself, picking up the turtle toddler in the process, "I'm here to help."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you like this new story I'm working on. It's been in storage for a long time and I just said "Eh screw it." So it'd be awesome if you read this, you review. Thanks! <strong>


	2. Welcome to the Show!

**2012**

It looked like simple family get together; all four turtles and their father/sensei sitting around the table eating a beneficial, yet gag-inducing, feast of algae and worms. Mikey stood at the counter scrambling around with something as the others reluctantly picked at their food. "Who wants cake?" Mikey asked, enthusiastic as usual dropping a two foot tall green cake in front of his brothers. The brothers were awestruck that there was something else other than the goop they were subjected to, but alas the excitement was shot down; revealing the supposedly sweet treat was not what they were hoping.

Their sensei sat quietly at the head of the table until his youngest son begged for the story of their creation to be told. Steely grey eyes looked on at the group with interest, as Splinter talked flashbacks flowed through her mind's eye of her own experience with the mutants that she so dearly loved.

It was as if in the span of a few hours the turtles went from little toddlers stumbling to walk on two feet, to near adults preparing to explore a whole new world. Emerging from their sheltered life and finally living one of adventure. Splinter continued to warn the boys about the dangers of being seen, don't talk to strangers, and other various mishaps to watch out for topside, such as bathrooms, that comment made the still perched brunette chuckle internally; and in the blink of eye the teens were gone.

There were a few beats of silence. "Are you going to make your presence known?" Splinter inquired, his eyes not leaving the entrance to the lair. The figure silently jumped down from the crow's nest landing silently behind the ninja master in response to his question. He turned to see the girl he had met long ago, "Hello my dear friend. It has been too long. Thank you for coming." His voice was soft and steady but he was very happy to see her again.

She nodded her head and bowed politely. "Yes Master Yoshi, it is good to see you as well." She spoke in the quiet tone she was so use to when at the lair. They turned their attention to the entrance with turnstiles, expectantly as if the turtles would just be standing there.

"Do you think they are ready?" The girl's voice was barely a whisper but more to the point she worried about those green teens. After all she had been through she feared for their safety and Master Splinter could tell. He placed his paw on her shoulder reassuringly.

"We shall see." Was his answer but she could tell he was also apprehensive.

* * *

><p>Four green teens emerged from the confines of their sanctuary that is the sewers for the first time in their existence. Each turtle was completely awestruck by their new playground. The streets were surprisingly empty in their part of New York. The general consensus being, New York was: "The city that never sleeps." It lived up to its reputation, from the sounds off in the distance there was plenty going on.<p>

All four beamed with excitement, in their own ways, of course, Donatello found a store with computers that sparked his interest, Leonardo exclaimed how there could literally be an adventure around any corner. Raphael didn't seem to be as eager to run around ogling everything he saw, he simply smiled and gave Donnie sarcastic flack about how nerdy he was. Mikey; the not-so-bright but wonderfully lovable and innocent discovered a glowing neon sign and couldn't control his adoration for the item to the point where he had to be dragged away. To any onlooker who knew of the four mutants might consider the events quite humorous to watch. There was a low revving of an engine nearing the turtles' position and they became tense. Glowing gold eyes watched from above armed and ready to act if necessary. Fortunately, it was just a pizza delivery boy whom was scared off by one Raphael, dropping a pizza as he high-tailed it out of there. The glowing eyes rolled but held a hint of amusement.

On the move again, the guys had had there couple firsts; an interaction, albeit brief, and their first taste of real food. They were completely psyched to be out and about they were jumping from rooftop to rooftop shouting laughing and just having a good time all the while, unbeknownst to them, having a follower in tow.

Finally they had stopped and Leo had suggested it was getting late and they should head back home. Grumbles and objections were heard all around; even the mysterious stalker was disappointed but only for a moment when an interesting turn of events occurred. Donnie had taken notice of a female below and it could be seen in his red brown eyes that he was instantly infatuated. A loud screech echoed down the road as a van stopped in front of the girl and her father. The figure in the shadows watched, eyes calculating and full of anger when several men took it upon themselves to capture the redheaded teen.

A growl summited from the pit of the golden eyed figure as she stood from her perch ready to interrupt the kidnapping taking a personal attraction but abruptly stopped as the turtles stepped in. This wasn't the time to fight, she decided, it was the time to observe.

It was painful, to say the least. Brutal was putting it mildly. None of them were in tune to what was happening around them. It was sufficient to say they were lacking in all areas of teamwork landing them in the position of being compromised, as the girl and man were taken away. A disappointed huff escaped into the air though she did chuckle at the redhead's shriek of fear when Donnie caught her. Regardless, the teens had let the men get away but she really wasn't surprised they were infants to the world and had no idea what they were truly up against.

She sighed and her eyes landed on the youngest turtle as he stretched from being pounded into the ground. A smirk crept across her lips as he came face to face with one of the expressionless lone man.

"You think you're tough, huh?" Mikey shouted to one of the suited men that had been left behind. "You think you're tough enough to stand up to my hot nun-chuck fury!" He yelled spinning his weapon for an intimidating effect. He landed a few hits but nothing seemed to work. His eyes widened when the man caught the chuck in one swift movement tossing the weapon aside. The young mutant ran away, with the man, and spy, hot on his trail.

_Oh man_. Mikey groaned as he ran into a dead end. He was caught between a psycho and a hard place. Mikey felt a wave of fear wash over him as he swatted at the being nearing ever closer, landing a quick gash across the man's face it stumbled backwards, malfunctioning. Mikey stepped closer. A sick feeling came up from his stomach looking upon the man whose face was now torn off, "Oh that's all kinds of wrong."

There was a beat of silence when he felt a presence behind him. He spun around throwing a punch but his fist was caught; in the blink of an eye he was pinned to the ground on his stomach, both arms held, painfully, in the air behind his back, he could feel pressure through his shell holding him down. "It is ill advised to swing when you are unaware to what you are swinging at." The voice was soft but firm for a brief second reminding him of Master Splinter; he could also hear the hint of a smile in it. "Now I will let you up and return your weapons, okay?" Also female. Mikey coughed into the dirty alleyway ground and murmured a yeah then was released.

He turned to see a girl with wavy brown hair, smooth caramel skin, and silver eyes that shined in the moonlight drawing him in. "Uh, Hi?" He stuttered trying to find his voice. She smirk muttering a 'hi' and brushed past him stopping at the suited body a few feet away. Mikey followed.

She was analyzing it, "Pretty messed up huh?" She spoke and he noticed she had an accent but he couldn't place it.

He chuckled joining her, kneeling down to get a better look at the robot, he noticed the brain in its chest but before the girl could warn him the pink creature opened it's eyes letting out a scream, the girl backed away as the beast jumped grabbing ahold of Mikey's face. The turtle started screaming and flailing around he finally managed to throw the creature off him and into a wall. Just as it was scurrying away there was a loud popping noise and it exploded. Mikey looked towards the girl just in time to see her holstering what looked like a gun.

Mikey clenched his teeth suddenly uncomfortable in the presence of the now remarkably scary brunette. He let out a nervous chuckle, "Uh well that was interesting." She simply rolled her eyes at him and went back to studying the robot. "Um, I'll be right back." The orange banded turtle explained before taking off to find his brothers.

"Guys! Guys! Guys! That dude he- he had a brain!" Mikey gasped.

"We all have brains. Mikey." Leonardo noted.

"In our chests?!"

"No not in our chests." Leo explained calmly. Michelangelo was becoming more frustrated by the second.

"Just follow me," He said rubbing his face where Leo had slapped him, "I'm tellin you the guy was a robot and he had a freaky alien brain thing in his chest then this girl showed up and blew the crap out of it; you gotta believe me"

Reluctantly his brothers followed. "Let's see an alien brain thing and a girl who blew it up…I'm not sure we do." Raph commented.

Mikey gave him a small glare, "Oh yeah well. You'll see that he's… gone." Mikey stared at the bare ground where the robot guy and the girl were not 2 minutes ago. "They were just here!" He stressed. His brothers scoffed irritated walking away from their little brother. "But-" He whispered defeated.

…Later Down Below …

The turtles were knelt down heads hung low as their master and father paced back and forth before them debating about what action to take on the recent happenings. Being lectured was not on Raphael's list of to-do's, the blood in his veins rushed through him as he listened to Splinter drone on about how they weren't ready for life above. Inside he felt the twinge of anticipation build inside him. Fighting those guys in suits was exhilarating, he wanted more.

Mikey sat his hands at his side silently tapping away at the floor in a restless turmoil. His mind raced with thoughts of that freaky alien thing then the pretty brunette and back to the terrifying alien then ultimately the girl again. That continued for a few minutes. Who was she? What were those things? Did she know about them? Why was there a brain thing in the guy's chest? Why wasn't that girl scared of him? "Didn't she notice the green skin?" His voice was barely a whisper and only caught the attention of Master Splinter who gave the youngest turtle a sideways glance.

Donatello glared at the floor all he could think about was that red haired girl being kidnapped. He closed his eyes and there she was a panicked and frightened look in her cyan blue orbs. She needed him to save her she was counting on his to be her hero and he let her down; he had to get her back. He began explaining the situation to their sensei and in return was granted permission, under circumstances.

Sarah listened in on the discussion of whether or not the turtles should be permitted to traverse above ground, just as last time, hidden in the shadows. Her impression of the turtles was not as good as Splinter or herself would have hoped. There were skilled, of course, _nothing but the best for the boys_; Sarah thought with a smirk Splinter certainly did a fine job raising them. Her attention was brought back to the conversation once her mutant rat friend spoke of them needing a leader. At first she thought maybe he would call for her, she was after all a capable fighter but soon dismissed the idea quickly. She would be no help to them in certain situations besides they didn't really know her nor would they trust her even if she was a friend. A mess of shuffling sounds flew into her ear after Leonardo was named the rightful leader of their group. She sighed then vanished before she was spotted by the green teens as they emerged from the Dojo.

_A chance to rescue a damsel in distress and find out about those robots. I wouldn't miss it._


End file.
